Identification of drugs that modulate apoptosis is a major goal of the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Apoptosis, or programmed cell death, serves many purposes in cell populations. Termination of damaged, stressed or infected cells conserves resources for healthy cells and may help to prevent spread of infection. In multicellular organisms, a changing environment often leads to cycles of cell proliferation or death, depending on the needs of the organism. Similarly, during development of multicellular organisms, excess cells are produced but later removed by apoptosis. Finally, the importance of apoptosis in the health of an organism is underscored by the consequences of excess apoptosis or lack of apoptosis. In humans, excess apoptosis is linked to autoimmune and neurodegenerative diseases, while a lack of apoptosis contributes to the uncontrolled growth of cancerous cells.
Because apoptosis is induced by signals external or internal to the cell, it is contemplated that identification and purification of select signals could provide useful compositions for modulating apoptosis in cell populations, multicellular organisms, and in human disease. Accordingly, there remains a need for identifying compositions that induce or inhibit apoptosis.
Marine organisms provide a vast source of natural products for use in pharmaceutical and biomedical applications. Many novel compounds have been identified in marine invertebrates, including potent anti-tumor and anti-mitotic compounds currently in clinical trials. Marine microorganisms, which represent an estimated 90% of the biomass in the ocean (Suttle, Nature Reviews Microbiology, Vol. 5, 801-812 (2007)), are also potential sources of novel chemical structures.